2020 MotoGP Round Four – Red Bull Ring

MotoGP Facts and Stats

---

With his win at the Czech GP, Brad Binder became the first KTM rider to win since the Austrian manufacturer entered full-time in the premier class in 2017. In addition, this is the 17th different manufacturer to win in the premier class.

KTM became the first manufacturer to have won at least once in Moto3, Moto2 and MotoGP, and it was the first time a manufacturer took a debut win in the premier class since Ducati won in 2003 at the Catalan GP.

KTM has won a race in five different Grand Prix classes (125cc, Moto3, 250cc, Moto2 and MotoGP), equalling Yamaha who have done it in 125cc, 250cc, 350cc, 500cc and MotoGP. Only Honda have won in more classes: seven (50cc, 125cc, Moto3, 250cc, 350cc, 500cc and MotoGP).

Following the Czech GP, KTM have scored 44 points in the Constructor’s World Championship classification, which is the highest points accumulated after the opening three races by KTM since they stepped up to MotoGP.

Brad Binder set his first fastest lap in MotoGP which is also the first fastest lap in the class for a KTM rider. He also became the first KTM rider to lead a MotoGP race.

With Fabio Quartararo in Spain and Andalucia, and Brad Binder at Brno, this is the first time there are two first time winners in the opening three races of a premier class season since 1988 with Kevin Schwantz and Kevin Magee.

In addition, this is the first time there are only winners who had not previously won in the premier class in the opening three races of a premier class season since 1961 with Gary Hocking and Mike Hailwood.

In Brno, Franco Morbidelli finished in second place, which is his first podium finish since he stepped up to MotoGP in 2018. His previous best results were fifth places.

Johann Zarco crossed the line in third place at the Czech GP, which is his first podium finish in the premier class since he was third in Malaysia in 2018.

With his seventh premier class podium, Zarco has two less podiums than Fabio Quartararo and Raymond Roche who are tied with nine podiums behind Christian Sarron (18 podiums).

This is the first time there are at least two different French podium finishers in the same premier class season since 1985 with Raymond Roche and Christian Sarron.

With Binder, Morbidelli and Zarco, this is the first premier class podium with riders who didn’t win previously in the class since Donington back in 2009 with Andrea Dovizioso, Colin Edwards and Randy De Puniet.

With KTM, Yamaha, Ducati and Suzuki within the top four, this is the first time there are four different manufacturers in the top four in the premier class since Catalunya last year.

Championship leader Fabio Quartararo finished the race in seventh place, which is his worst result since finishing seventh in Malaysia last year.

Neither of the factory Honda riders have won at least one of the three opening races. The last time that Honda did not have a win in either of the first three races of the year was in 2010 when Yamaha won the three opening races with Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo.

Neither of the two Yamaha factory riders have won at least one of the three opening races for the third successive year. The last time that the Yamaha Factory team did not have a win in any of the first three races of the year in three successive seasons was from 2001 to 2003.

Only one of the three rookies in MotoGP this year has previously won a Grand Prix race in Austria in any of the smaller classes: Brad Binder, last year. Nonetheless, Alex Marquez has stood on the podium at the track twice, both of which were second places in Moto2 (2017 and 2019).

---

Grand Prix Racing in Austria

Motorcycle Grand Prix racing returned to Austria in 2016 after a break of 18 years. Four years ago, Austria hosted a motorcycle Grand Prix event for the first time since 1997.

The first Austrian GP took place in 1971 at the Salzburgring circuit, which hosted Grand Prix racing on 22 occasions.

At that first Austrian GP in 1971, Giacomo Agostini (MV Agusta) won the 500cc race, finishing more than a lap ahead of second-place finisher Keith Turner. Agostini also won the 350cc race, with the other classes being won by the following riders: 250cc – Silvio Grassetti (MZ), 125cc – Angel Nieto (Derbi), 50cc – Jan de Vries (Kreidler).

The last occasion that a Grand Prix event took place at the Salzburgring circuit was in 1994, when Mick Doohan won the 500cc race with a race average speed in excess of 194 km/h.

Due to the high-speed nature of the Salzburgring circuit, and the limited amount of run-off provided, it was considered too dangerous for continued use in Grand Prix racing.

The current Red Bull Ring has hosted two previous Grand Prix events prior to 2016: in 1996 and 1997, when named the A1- Ring.

Honda won the 500cc races held at the A1-Ring in both 1996 and 1997, with Alex Criville and Mick Doohan.

Before 2016, Valentino Rossi was the only current rider to have previously raced at this circuit in a Grand Prix event.

Rossi’s third-place finish in the 125cc race in Austria in 1996 was his first Grand Prix podium finish. He again finished on the podium in the 125cc race in Austria in 1997, then in second place just 0.004 seconds behind Noboru Ueda.

Ducati have taken the four MotoGP wins at the Red Bull Ring since 2016, the first of them came from pole position with Andrea Iannone, the second with Andrea Dovizioso in 2017, the third with Jorge Lorenzo and last year with Dovizioso again.

In 2016 in Austria, Andrea Iannone won for the first time since he moved up to the MotoGP class and gave Ducati their first win since Casey Stoner won the Australian GP in 2010. With Andrea Dovizioso crossing the line in second, this was the first 1-2 finish in a MotoGP race for Ducati since the Australian GP in 2007, won by Casey Stoner from Loris Capirossi.

The Austrian GP in 2016 was the first time that Italian riders riding Italian bikes took 1-2 in the premier class since the Finnish 500cc GP at Imatra in 1972 won by Giacomo Agostini from team-mate Alberto Pagani, both riding MV Agustas.

Honda have qualified on pole position over the last three years at the Red Bull Ring, all of them with Marc Marquez.

Jorge Lorenzo and Fabio Quartararo’s third places in 2016 and 2019 are Yamaha’s best results at the track. Norick Abe and Luca Cadalora also finished third in 1996 and 1997, respectively, in the 500cc races held at the A1-Ring.

The average speed of the MotoGP race in Austria in 2016 was 182.401 km/h. This was the highest average speed for a GP race since Mick Doohan won the 500cc German Grand Prix in 1994 at the Hockenheim circuit at an average speed of 203.8 km/h. Last year in Austria, the average speed was 183.283 km/h.

In 2017, Cal Crutchlow finished the Austrian Grand Prix in 15th place and crossed the line just 28.096 seconds behind race winner Andrea Dovizioso, which was the closest top 15 of all time in a full-length premier class Grand Prix at the time. Incredibly, this record is now in 11th place on the list of the closest top 15s in the class, behind Mugello last year.

---

Brad Binder is the first South African premier class winner

In Brno, Brad Binder became the first South African rider to win a premier class race in Grand Prix racing. South Africa became the 19th nation to win at least once in the premier class.

With his win, Brad Binder became the fourth different South African rider to stand on the podium in the premier class along with Paddy Driver (8 podiums), Kork Ballington (2) and Eddie Grant (1).

With this win, Brad Binder became the first African rider to win in the premier class since Jim Redman (Rhodesian) at the 1966 Dutch TT.

On his third MotoGP race, Brad Binder became the first rookie rider to win in the class since Marc Marquez in Austin in 2013 (in his second MotoGP race) and the fourth overall along with Marquez, Dani Pedrosa (in his fourth MotoGP race) and Jorge Lorenzo (in his third MotoGP race).

Brad Binder is the third rider to win a MotoGP race having previously won in both the Moto2 and Moto3 classes, along with Alex Rins and Maverick Viñales.

Brad Binder also became the first rider who won in the premier class of Grand Prix racing after winning a race in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup (Estoril/2011).

---

Record breaking Czech Grand Prix

Alex Marquez finished the Czech GP in 15th place, crossing the line just 24.597 seconds behind race winner Brad Binder, which is the sixth closest top 15 of all time in a full-length premier class Grand Prix.

The following list shows the ten closest top 15 finishes of all time in the premier class of Grand Prix racing, all of them have occurred since 2017 (only races that have completed full race distance are considered for inclusion in the following table).

Official statistics compiled by Dr. Thomas Morsellino

---

MotoGP World Championship Standings

---

myWorld Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich Schedule

---

Updated 2020 MotoGP Calendar

Source: MCNews.com.au